Backfire
by Thorne Rosewood
Summary: What goes around comes around, Lila. She wanted him for herself, but it backfired on her. Rated M for mentions.
1. Prologue

Marinette woke up to a throbbing pain in her head and a full body aching. She groaned softly. She was bare, but hot at the same time.

Wait.

Bare?!

She sat up quickly and immediately regretted it. A dizzy spell hit her right in the head.

She was in Adrien's room.

His bed.

Naked.

He was naked, too, but thankfully the blankets covered what were meant for his girlfriend's eyes only.

What had they done?!

She slid out of the bed, giving a soft whimper. How late had they been up the night before? What happened? How? She remembered nothing.

Did he know?

She found his shirt and quickly put it on. It just barely covered what it had to.

Then, she climbed back up onto the bed and shook Adrien awake.

Throbbing pain in his head, bare, hot, naked, and he gazed at Marinette.

"What happened?!" He asked Marinette.

"I haven't one idea..." She told him. "But I feel like crap. I don't remember...you know, this."

"We can ask the kwamis while we get situated."

Marinette blushed.

Not at the kwami thing, but the fact that she was wearing a barely long enough shirt.

She shook off the feeling and nodded. Before anything else could be said, she scurried to her bedroom.

"Plagg!"

Marinette came out of the shower. Her hair was down. She was wearing a pink shirt and blue jeans.

"Plagg told me that Kagami came in and insisted we had a drink or two. I fell for it, and that's when he saw that it was really Lila. She slept with me and then left. Then you came in, slurring about Lila and calling me yours if I wanted. I said yes, then we slept together. We must have been at it. I'm still tired."

"Are you and Kagami...does she know?"

"No. Does Luka?"

Marinette shook her head.

"Luka and I, we haven't...you know, done that yet. But you... should probably get tested. Who knows where Lila's been."

Adrien nodded in agreement.

"Are you gonna tell Kagami?"

"As long as something doesn't come up, I don't plan to."

Marinette smiled. "I won't tell Luka. It can be a secret locked away."

Adrien nodded in agreement.

"One that we don't bring up ever again."

"Yeah..."

They didn't take into account that what they'd done made babies.

They'd have to bring it up again.


	2. Chapter 1

Marinette and Adrien shared an apartment.

They were both going to university, because together, they'd be managing the legacy that Gabriel left behind when he was imprisoned.

That day was a good day for Adrien and all of Paris. Gabriel Agreste, Hawkmoth rather, was put into jail for psychological abuse to the civilians of Paris, and child abuse to Adrien.

Not only did Adrien and Marinette live together, but they were strong. Basically best friends. They knew their identities after Hawkmoth was defeated, Ladybug having kept her promise of revealing their identities when there wasn't much more extreme danger present.

Adrien was happy to see that it was Marinette, and vice versa. But she was surprised at how the elegant, sophisticated, well mannered Adrien Agreste was the Chat Noir who would scream to the rooftops how much he loved Ladybug.

Well, he used to do that.

Chat was the first to go off the market. When Ladybug noticed how he'd dropped the nicknames, he shyly explained that he'd found love. When he asked if she had, she said no, but later, she was obsessing over her boyfriend.

Kagami and Luka were the ones who slid into the "first partner in romance" booth for the two.

"First love is one you never forget." Tikki told Marinette.

And sure. She may have been in love with Luka. She hadn't any self conflict with that. He was sweet, funny...everything she wanted. But even after having moved on from Adrien, she's always wondered what she could have done better to get him as her boyfriend. It still hurt to see him, but Kagami made him happier than Marinette may have had with her celebrity crush.

Adrien may have been in love with Kagami, with no self conflict. She was everything he wanted. But he still feels troubled that Marinette's shows of affection flew right past his head. And that he was too pushy and overbearing as Chat, which scared her off. Too oblivious as Adrien.

He wanted to be with his lady.

After all, he did promise himself that he was in love with the girl under the mask.

Four weeks later, Marinette was sitting in her bed, holding a positive pregnancy test, sobbing.

No. No!

This wasn't supposed to happen!

None of it was! She was dating Luka, yet she'd had (drunk) sex with Adrien, who was dating Kagami. And since they had so much of it, and on her fertile period, now she was sitting on her bed holding the answer to her questions.

That little stick would cause many problems.

She heard the door open.

"Marinette, what's wrong?" She heard Adrien's voice.

Wonderful.

"A-Adrien...I...I'm..."

She couldn't get it out. She simply cried harder.

"Hey, hey..." Adrien grabbed the box of tissues and climbed onto the bed. He took Marinette into her arms. "Deep breaths, little lady. What's wrong, why are you crying? Who do I need to hurt?"

"I-it's n-not that..." She stammered.

She opened her hands to reveal a pregnancy test.

"It's positive." He said after taking it out of her hand and analyzing it. "So what's the matter? You're gonna have a baby, Marinette. A family. You, Luka, and the baby."

"You don't get it, Adrien..." She whimpered. "Remember when I woke you up that morning?"

_"Luka and I, we haven't...you know, done that yet."_

"Yeah. So...did you?"

"No." She answered. "You're the only one I've slept with. No protection and on my fertile day. And drunk. And alone. I'm pregnant, yes, and it's yours...which is the problem..."

She turned her head from him and continued to cry.

"I don't really see the problem. Plenty of parents have been separated but still raise a child together."

"Yes, but a case like this is just gonna ruin things...this is my fault. I wasn't on birth control and I drank without thinking what it was or how strong it was..."

"You're rambling."

She quiet down.

"We're gonna get through this. I promise.

He ran his fingers through her hair.

_Mon dieu_, what was he doing?! He had a girlfriend and she had a boyfriend.

But they'd made a baby together.

No, no!

Adrien was in the process of reluctantly pulling away when the two heard the door slam against the wall.

He was quick to pull apart then.

"What's going on in here?!"

Marinette didn't speak any Japanese yet. Just French, English, and Mandarin.

But she knew from Kagami's grand entrance, as well as her tone of voice, that she wasn't pleased at the scene in front of her.

_"Kagami?! What's wrong?!"_

_"Don't play dumb, Adrien! You know what you've done! How could you have done this to me?! What did I do wrong?! Was I not good enough? Did you get bored?! Or was our love all this time a big, fat, lie?!"_

Adrien hopped down from the bed. He took Kagami's hand and the two left the room.

Marinette heard a lot of yelling and crying, different tones of voice, before the front door slammed.

She grabbed a pillow and screamed into it, resuming her crying.

Great.

She'd ruined a relationship.

A few hours later, she woke up to Adrien kneeling by her bedside. The aroma of his skilled cooking filled her nose, instantly waking her up.

"You cried yourself to sleep. I couldn't get you up." He said. "I let you sleep."

"Thanks, I guess..." Marinette muttered softly. "What'd you make?"

"Your favorite."

Spanokopita dipped in tomato soup.

All home made.

She smiled a little. "Thank you, Kitty...did anyone come by?"

"No. But something happened. Maybe I shouldn't tell you, though. I don't want you worrying too much. You've already worn yourself out today."

"Please tell me." She begged.

Adrien told her no until she used her baby doll eyes on him.

"Dammit. That's abuse of power. It'll get you plenty of places with Luka."

"Sure, if we survive."

"Right...anyways, Lila...she knows what she's done. She's hiding from us right now. She'll probably pop up again at some point. I'm presuming that she told someone, who leaked the information to somewhere and...you get the idea. So now a lot of people with social media know what happened."

"They what?!" Marinette yelped, almost falling out of her bed. "Where's the main post?"

"Gone. It disappeared minutes after it was released. People retweeted it or sent it around, but it got deleted, so someone made a new one, basically a duplicate, and now that's going around. It's trending."

"That must be how Kagami knows. Maybe Lila told her."

"Possibly," Adrien suggested.

"Maybe Luka knows. I think he would have messaged me by now."

"He's busy with Kitty Section. But I'm sure he'll talk to you soon. Alya was the first to tell me what was going on."

"So how are your DMs and all looking?"

"Fucking fantastic. Now that someone's managed to hack into my account and change my bio from what it once was to the fact that I slept with you as well as my phone number, email, and enable my DMs and messages, my phone hasn't stopped. I've had to switch to my other one."

"Your old one. Gotcha."

"Even worse is that your phone is probably gonna be the same. This hacker is clearly out to get us."

Marinette nodded in agreement. As she grabbed the baked, cheese and spinach filled dumpling and dipped it into the soup, Adrien smiled a little bit.

"I can order you a new phone if you want to be safe."

"That'd be nice..."

"How are you feeling now?"

He saw the little twinkle in her eyes as she ate the food he brought her.

"A little better. Thank you, kitty. You know how to make me feel better."

Adrien smiled. He tenderly kissed Marinette's cheek, then left the room.

Marinette took a deep breath.

She needed a long, hot shower, a good night's rest, and a shit ton of coffee.


	3. Chapter 2

Marinette took slow, deep breaths.

She could do this. She could do this.

She sat at the computer and opened Skype. She found Luka's profile and clicked on the option to video call him.

The screen switched. She got a good look at herself while the video call rang. Stressed, tired, overwhelmed, frustrated...thankfully, there was no Hawkmoth around for her to become an akuma.

She finally heard her boyfriend's voice.

"Luka!" Marinette exclaimed. "Hey!"

"What's up, my calliope?"

She smiled. He was her chanson and she was his calliope. If they had kids, (Marinette was pregnant, but not with his babies), then she wanted twins. A boy and a girl. Chanson and Calliope. Nicknamed Chans and Calli.

Hmm. Marinette quickly grabbed a piece of paper and wrote those down.

"I uh...I don't know if you heard about it yet but I got drunk and accidentally slept with Adrien."

Luka suddenly frowned.

"So it's true?"

Marinette nodded slowly.

"I thought it was just a silly rumor." Luka said. "Even though it's continued to grow. First model Adrien Agreste, soon to be secretary of Gabriel, has cheated on new fencing teacher Kagami Tsurugi, with soon to be CEO of Gabriel, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, girlfriend of lead guitarist of Kitty Section, Luka Couffaine. But I guess it isn't, is it?"

Marinette shook her head, ashamed.

"Don't be...in the blues about it, Marinette. It was just an accident. I know you wouldn't have done that on purpose."

Marinette sighed. "No...I wouldn't have. But to be really honest, having slept with Adrien..."

"Felt nice?"

"I don't know how it really felt. We were both drunk. But...I'm happy with it, I guess. And now that he and Kagami are done for, I want him just because you're gone a lot and I'm pregnant with his baby and we live together and we'll manage Gabriel together and—"

"You're rambling."

"You understand what I'm saying, right?"

"I...suppose I do. You're in love with someone else."

Marinette nodded. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

"It's...it's fine, Marinette. We can still be friends."

Before she could say anything else, the call ended.

Marinette stared at the screen.

She breathed, then got up and went to Adrien's bedroom to tell him what'd happened.

"How did it go?" He asked.

"Good, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Yeah, I guess it went good. Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What do men mean when they say we can still be friends?"

Adrien froze.

Luka broke up with her.

"Who ended it?" He asked her, ignoring her question.

"Huh?!" She asked.

"Who ended what you guys had going on?!"

"Oh...I...I just told him that I was in love with someone else, that we'd had sex, I was pregnant..."

Adrien went still again.

"In love with someone else?"

"Oh...I said too much."

"Please don't leave me hanging like this." Adrien begged her. "Who?"

"I told him that I felt sort of content the morning after. Content with us loving together, sharing an apartment, working together...and with Kagami gone, I have eyes for you now. Which I...don't want."

"You're in love with me but don't want to be?"

Marinette shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Because...your girlfriend just broke up with you, I don't know if she's coming back or not, and I'm assuming that Luka and I are done as well. It's just too early to spring back into a relationship after a breakup."

"I can agree with you there." He said. "Why don't we pursue us anyways? We can wait some time, if you'd like."

"Can I think about it?"

Adrien nodded.

"We can always as Alya. Or your mother. Then again, Alya and Nino have been a thing since collège."

Adrien laughed lightly. "Almost six years now. Nino needs to get down on his knees before Alya gets bored."

"She'll never get bored with him. I think the roadblock for them is their jobs. Nino is always away at big events, making music, and Alya is always all over the place reporting events. Even if they got engaged, I think they'd be engaged forever. They'd be too busy to plan the wedding."

"Then they should get a wedding planner."

"Weddings are different in America, Mari. There's a lot more documents you have to sign. And invitations, and the reception."

Marinette swooned. She and Adrien could get married in the mayor's hall, then have a reception in the courtyard of a castle in France, and another reception in China.

She loved the idea.

"Earth to the little lady...Marinette..."

She was stuck in her imagination.

Adrien frowned. He kissed her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"I lost you, didn't I?" He asked.

Marinette giggled sheepishly. "Yeah..."

-  
Emilie Agreste heard a knock at the door.

She smiled brightly, and went to go open it. Her smile grew a bit when she saw Adrien and Marinette.

"My babies!" She gushed. "Come in, come in!"

The two came in and followed her to some chairs.

"So," she started. "How's college going?"

"I..." Marinette started. She looked at Adrien.

He smiled a bit. She was scared. "I got it." He whispered. "Mom, we...something happened recently. Something not so good for the relationships that we were in."

"Oh, no...what happened?"

"You remember Lila, right? The girl who you told off because she was following me?"

"It was sexual harassment, to be technical. But yes, I remember her."

"Well...she drugged me and I slept with her."

"What?! You drunk slept with your enemy?!"

"I was drunk." He argued. "There's more. With Marinette and I living together, she came out that to the living room to find me. She wanted to..." Adrien looked at her.

"I was in denial and disbelief that Adrien was having sex. And with Kagami, at that. So I finished his wine glass. Lila left and I went in to Adrien and...well..."

"Adrien, I hope you haven't went back to bed with Marinette. Who knows what diseases Lila has."

"We...we're sorta kinda dating. But we didn't get there yet. We're both getting tested before...you know. That."

"Speaking of tests, the story gets sorta...worse."

"Bring it." Emilie said.

"I-I'm pregnant." Marinette stammered.

"With...Adrien's baby?"

"Yeah." She answered softly. "I would have been on birth control, but Luka and I weren't having...that...so I wasn't."

"And what about you, Adrien? You have a girlfriend. And you two are sleeping together. Are you two not using protection?"

"We were, Mom." Adrien answered. "Kagami couldn't afford to get pregnant. Not with her job."

"How is she, anyways?"

"Well...she broke up with me when she learned that I'd slept with Marinette. Now I had no clue where she is."

"How did she know?"

"Someone told her. Just like someone told the media. It's only a matter of time before they learn about the baby."

"Is that why you've skipped doctor's appointments?"

"I haven't told my doctor. I'm scared to go anywhere else outside of yours or my parents houses without getting mobbed."

"Hmm...it's been a pretty long time but I think I can get into contact again with the doctor that Adrien's father and I used for him."

"They're still working?!" Adrien asked.

"It's only been eighteen years or so. Age doesn't really stop some doctors."

Marinette curled in on herself. "I don't think I'm too thrilled at the idea of another man...y'know, exploring me. Even just for medical purposes."

"Let me ask you this, Marinette. Do you want to marry Luka?"

"He dumped me," she replied. "But I would have."

"Would you have wanted sex with him?"

"Er...yes?"

"Babies?"

"I don't see why not."

"Then you would have had to see a gynecologist."

Marinette pouted.

"I can be with you if you want." Adrien offered. "I mean, I doubt he'd pull anything on you. But maybe I can make it less...scary?"

"Nobody told me that pregnancy had all these embarrassing situations!" She cried.

"And there's the mood swing." Emilie muttered.

"I'm not trying to make this less embarrassing, bugaboo. I'm trying to help you. Try and view it as a relationship building block."

"Fine."

"Now...Mom, what do we do?!"

"Where was the calm, relaxed, composed son I had just a few seconds ago?"

"Gone. Now what do we do? We both got dumped, yet we're bouncing back to each other."

"You two were meant to be from the start. I knew it when I saw you lifting her up and taking her to your room to rest."

Marinette looked at Adrien with a tiny smile as she remembered that day.

He gazed at his mother for just a couple seconds before going over to Marinette. She was breathing.

He braced himself, reached under her, picked her up, and took her to his room.

He missed his mother and wanted nothing more than for her to be safe. But she was alright. Maybe not next to his father, but with how his father loved her, he knew he wouldn't hurt her.

Marinette was knocked out on the floor, from Gabriel's hit. She wasn't powered, so she went unconscious the moment the staff hit her.

Adrien's focus was his partner.

She was his everything.

"Amelie and Felix have the other one. But here." She gave a ring to Adrien.

"One of the twin rings?!" Marinette yelped.

"Yes. You two can...share it, I suppose. You're more than welcome to go get the other one. But not now. I've seen how risky Marinette will get. You can't be pregnant and risking your life."

"Agreed...I moved the miracle box, Mari. You'll never find it."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "It's in the kwami food stash."

"Wha—how did you—"

"I'm not stupid. I check for it every day. I'm the guardian, I'm self forbidden to lose it. And you can trust me. I won't nab my miraculous. Unless you're in danger."

"No, not that instance either. Now I've gotta protect you. I don't know how the media's gonna react to the baby."

"Who was the first to know?" Emilie asked.

"Me. Then Adrien. Then Alya. Then Luka. And now you. I don't know how I'll tell Maman and Papa..."

"The same way." Adrien answered.

"Do you know my father?! He'll probably be...mad at Luka!"

"Well, serves Luka right. Luka lost his one and only chance to have a long life with an amazing girl. If he really loved you, he'd be accepting of the fact that you were accidentally pregnant."

"I...yeah."

"I know you two can do it." Emilie told the two, who looked at each other with knowing grins.

"We're a team, aren't we?"

I find it a little bit funny when people ask pregnant women who knew first and they say "the father" or "their older sibling" or "a friend" because being logistic, if they told that person, then the expectant mother knew first. XD


	4. Chapter 3

"Are you finished with your stories?"

Me, having written it but only posted two chapters so far: Yes, but actually no.

Lol, I often reference memes. Yay, Generation Z! (We eat Tide Pods and laugh at it. Something's wrong with us.)

~a few weeks later~

"Oh, bugaboo?" Adrien called in a singsong voice to his girlfriend.

She glanced up at him. "Yes, kitty?"

"We have to tell your parents about the baby. Really soon. Halloween is coming, and we have to do a cute costume to for you."

Marinette frowned. "And who said we were going trick or treating, chaton?"

"Don't play with me. You've been craving nothing but sugar and junk food. It's the perfect chance to get it all for free. Candy corn, peanut butter cups, chocolate bars."

Marinette covered her mouth.

"I told you you wanted it." He said with a smirk, handing her a napkin.

She wiped her mouth.

"You want me kid patrolling this year? With the baby?"

"Yep. They always cough up some candy for you."

"I'm eighteen, Adrien. There's no way I'm buying a costume and wearing it out. We can go to the store and get some candy."

Adrien pouted, but in the end, he and Marinette agreed that they'd dress up and pass out candy for a change, rather than walking around.

And also that they'd tell Tom and Sabine the first of November.

"You'll be two months pregnant then, m'lady."

"No, not yet. We slept on the first and I'm guessing we conceived on the third. We have my first appointment to see the baby two days after that."

Adrien squealed excitedly, earning a raised eyebrow from his girlfriend.

They were still in the dating stage. Neither of them knew the right time to ask one another out for real.

It'd come soon.

-  
"Tom! Marinette and Adrien are here!" Sabine called to her husband. "Hello, you two!"

Marinette's mouth was full of candy corn, so she simply waved, unlike Adrien, who properly said hello.

"Did you two go trick or treating last night?" Sabine asked, stifling a laugh.

"We passed out candy. Marinette won a bet so she's eating all the candy."

"Don't let her get a cavity." Tom warned.

"I'm not." Adrien promised.

"How have you been managing, anyways?"

"Well..." Marinette started. "Our first day of school we slept together..." She started.

"You two—what?!" Her parents yelped.

"We were drunk. Adrien got drunk and I drank spiked wine. Lila's behind it."

"She was the one who started it." Adrien explained. "I slept with her, then Marinette..."

"And now I'm pregnant."

"With Adrien's...?" Sabine asked.

Marinette's eyes filled with tears. She started to cry.

Adrien gently took her candy so that she wouldn't choke on it in the midst of crying, and held her.

"L-Luka broke up with me," she added quietly. "And Kagami broke up with Adrien...this is all my fault!"

Adrien only held her tighter. "My lady..."

"I drank the wine..."

"You didn't know. Neither of you did." Sabine came to the adults' defense.

"When does Luka get back?" Tom asked.

"He's been on tour in the states...January."

"I'll need to have his mother send him to me. He isn't gonna dump you and then walk away."

Marinette's tears stopped. She looked up at Adrien for a while.

He looked down at her.

"Marinette..." He warned.

She batted her eyelashes.

"Rene..."

"Please?"

"Dupain-Cheng..."

"Pretty please?"

Adrien groaned and gave her back her candy corn. She got back to work.

"How long has she used those on you?"

"Since we moved in together and I said no to something."

"You'll spoil her if you keep falling for it."

"I really don't mind."

"Or do you?" Sabine teased. "How's the baby treating you?"

Adrien gestured to the candy corn bag. The _empty_ candy corn bag.

"Well, at least she's done feasting."

"Never. I have enough to last me to December. I'll get tons of candy canes."

"Not if I forbid it."

She jabbed him in the ribs. "Don't mess with a pregnant woman, Agreste."

"So with you two single again, is there anything...more than partners?"

"We were never partners. We're best friends."

"Were," Adrien corrected her. "We're dating."

"Ha! You owe me a foot rub, Tom!"

"Wha—"

"You had a bet on my love life?!" Marinette screeched.

"Yep. It's near impossible for two people of the opposite sex, or of the same sex, to live together and not fall in love. If they're both single."

"What if just one is single?" Marinette asked with a grin.

"Then too bad for the single lady." Adrien said.

"I will stab you," she threatened.

"Try me, Miss Mood Swing."

Marinette grumbled.

She grabbed a fork and chased Adrien around the room for a few minutes before falling on the couch.

"There's no way you'll win anything." He said. "Not like that."

"Ugh. You're arrogant. And insatiable."

"I'd say the same for you, little lady. The exact same for you."

~two days later~  
"Are you nervous?" He asked Marinette as they walked up to the Agreste mansion.

She nodded.

The two were surprised to walk into Adrien's bedroom to find it decorated like a doctor's office—but at home.

"Wow." Marinette muttered.

"I'm not surprised. It's very spacious in here." Adrien said. "It used to be where Mom and Father held parties, before I was born."

"Until your father learned that I was pregnant. Then he declared that the party room was gonna be a room for you." Emilie said.

"Did the bookshelves and all come later?" Marinette asked.

"Yep. It was a gift from Julien." Emilie answered.

"Julien?" Marinette asked.

"Adrien's uncle. My sisters late husband. Felix's father. Brother in law. Whatever you may call him."

"How'd he die?" Marinette asked Adrien.

"He got sick."

"Please don't tell me it was a genetic disease..."

"Calm down, love. It was just cancer. He smoked, then that happened. As long as none of us do that then we're all in the clear."

Marinette kissed his cheek, then went to change into an examination gown.

Adrien couldn't help but blush.

"Why are you blushing?" She asked with a little smirk. "You've seen it before."

"Yes, but actually no."

She rolled her eyes.

"Come here, silly kitty...we're gonna see our baby."

"I know. I can't wait." He gushed.

A few minutes later, a woman walked in.

She introduced herself to Adrien and Marinette as Dr. Vanessa Wenke.

The two were hoping to just see and hear the baby, but it was a while before that. Marinette needed a pelvic exam, testing, her pregnancy confirmed, and a questionnaire before any of that.

The test was right the first time. She was pregnant.

She was fine, genital wise.

She was squirming with excitement over seeing the baby.

She smiled at the screen.

"It looks like a blob." Adrien said.

"Well, with her only being two months along, the baby is still pretty tiny. It'll be bigger next month. It's moving around."

"It moves?!" Marinette asked.

"Yep." The doctor said. "We may be able to pick up her heartbeat this week. If not, then we definitely should be able to next appointment."

Marinette watched all the equipment be set up. With the click of a few buttons, a fast, rapid thumping filled the room, bouncing off of the walls.

"Is it supposed to be that fast?" Adrien asked, rubbing Marinette's hand.

"Yeah. That's completely normal. It'll slow down over time, to a normal heart rate by the time she's born."

Marinette's face was tearstained.

"Adrien..." She whispered. "That's our baby...we...we did that. We made that."

Adrien smiled at the screen. The baby was wiggling.

"That's us, right there."

-  
Marinette's head was leaned on the window. She held the sonograms, gazing at them with a smile.

They were just about home.

"You've been quiet the whole time. What's on your mind?" Adrien asked Marinette.

"Oh...I just...you know, feel closer to the baby now that I've seen her wiggling around and hearing her heart."

"The baby's been growing inside of you for two months and you're only feeling close now?"

"No. I felt close the moment I saw that plus sign, like a lot of mothers do. But today I feel closer. Not just to the baby, but to you as well."

"To...me?"

"Yeah. I knew you'd always have my back as my partner. No...my best friend. My other half. But as the father to my child? I didn't expect you to stay by my side. Especially as something more than friends."

Adrien parked the car.

"We've been dating for how long now?"

"Two months."

"How long do people usually date before going into something deeper?"

"A...a couple weeks." Marinette answered.

"Right...so uh...my lady, I think my question to you is long overdue."

She smiled a bit.

"I...I love you. And the baby. And for as long as I possibly can, I'm gonna be with you. Through the pregnancy, the sleepless nights, and the messes. Since we're both single again, asides from us trial dating, would you...want an official relationship with me?"

Marinette's smile grew.

"Of course I do," She said. "More than anything."

He pulled her in for a kiss. It was passion filled, full of love, emotions...everything that was pent up had been released into it.

"I'd continue but...I gotta pee."

"Again?"

Marinette nodded.

"Well, lucky for us we're home."

She smiled. "You wanna call this apartment home?"

"For now, yeah."

"Then so be it."

-  
"You know what?" Adrien asked Marinette, who was slowly dozing off by his side.

"Mm?"

"We should make a statement."

"A statement?"

"Yeah. A statement. To clear up all the trouble around what's happened."

She yawned.

"Sure...tomorrow..."

Adrien smiled and tucked her in.

"Sleep, little lady..." He told her. "Don't let the ladybugs bite."


	5. Chapter 4

Marinette scrolled through the comments on Adrien's post.

"Princess, I thought I told you that I didn't want you obsessing over this."

"I know, kitty, but...can you really blame me? I'm sorta scared now. No wait, scratch that, I've been scared the last several weeks!"

He took the phone from her hand and slammed it on the table. "Stop freaking out. Calm down. I can't say that I share your fear because I'm not the one who's been feeling like complete and utter shit from making a baby. But I can say that I share your fear of our own safety and the feedback this is gonna get."

Marinette avoided his gaze.

"Why don't you do something else for now?"

"I can't get my mind off of it."

"You wanna cook with me?"

"Cook what?"

"Anything you want that we have the supplies for. Any cravings? I can try them with you if you want..."

"I've been craving French fries dipped in pickle juice..." She started. "But I don't wanna eat the pickles."

Adrien blinked. "Oh...Kay...any others?"

"Cake batter made of melted candy corn!"

"Too much sugar, absolutely not."

"Um...smores cake?"

"Hmmm...I guess we can make a cake with smores on top."

Marinette cheered.

Adrien went to the kitchen with his girlfriend in tow.

-  
Lila glared at Adrien's post.

_Yes, it's true I've been drugged and slept with two women despite having had my then girlfriend. This has caused problems for both me and the future mother of my child, Marinette. But please stop being so close minded and insensitive. You must remember that one, I was drugged, and two, it was an accident. We didn't want this to happen._

She clenched her phone at Marinette's comment.

_Isn't drugging someone and sleeping with them sexual assault?_

Then threw it at the wall at someone's reply.

_Since he was under an influence and didn't have his sober consent, yes it is. Imprison this monster!_

It landed with the screen facing up.

_Yes, but did YOU have his consent? I don't think so. You deserve to be imprisoned as much as the other woman!_

She stared down at it.

_Maybe she didn't have his consent, but she didn't drug him! Drunk sex happens all the time. Yet teens and adults aren't in jail. So why is this such a big deal?!_

_Because Adrien Agreste had a girlfriend! That night caused a breakup! I can't imagine how heartbroken she feels. Curse you for breaking them up, Marinette!_

_Shut up, we don't know the full details. Maybe Marinette was drunk as well..._

_Let's also not forget that Marinette had a boyfriend too..._

_Curse him, he broke up with her over an accident. This was all started by the other woman, who's to blame for starting this chain of catastrophe._

She grumbled. "Curse you, Marinette...you'll pay!"

-  
Marinette rushed into the apartment and made a beeline to her bedroom.

"Whoa, whoa! What's the rush?!"

She slammed her hand over the wall. The secret door opened. She yanked the miracle box out.

"What happened, why is that out?"

She opened a slot. It was empty.

"One of them is missing," she told him. "It's the fox one."

"Is Trixx's birthday nearby?"

"No! And there's no other way to locate her."

"Maybe Plagg and Tikki can find her."

"No, this is something we have to do ourselves."

"As much as I agree with you that we're better fit for the job, I'm gonna argue that you're carrying a baby and can't risk getting hurt."

"And I'll be stuck like this for the next seven months! I have to!"

"No you don't! I'm not gonna let you!"

"You can't stop me!"

"I very much can!"

"Evil never stops, we don't have time for me to have a baby and heal! Besides, I can still go out and look not pregnant."

"Marinette, no. I may not be able to stop you, but you aren't allowed to transform. I'll take your earrings and hide them if I have to. I can do this on my own. She isn't akumatized right now. Thus meaning that with no akuma to purify, that there's no need for Ladybug to risk the life of herself and her baby."

Marinette looked at her feet, tears pooling in her eyes.

"Don't start crying..."

She hiccuped, trying to stop the tears that were coming.

"Oh, my lady...I'm doing this because I love you, not because I want to rain on your parade for revenge. Trust me, I want to find whoever took the miraculous and beat them into a bloody pulp."

"I'm gonna be a horrible mother..."

"No you aren't."

"Risking mine and the baby's safety? Well, wanting to...but doing that? I am..."

"Not. You only want to find the miraculous so we can return to our typical, fairly burden free life. We'll find the miraculous in due time. Whoever took it poses no real threat at the moment. So until then, we're going to sit and wait to attack until a threat comes up, okay?"

Marinette nodded.

"Do you want that eat cake with me?"

She giggled softly and nodded.

"Come on."

"No real threat...

"For now."

Sorta short chapter (sorry) but not much really happened. This was just a chapter to shine light on the reactions of Marinette's pregnancy and what happened beforehand. And also, "you" from one of the comments/replies is capitalized to avoid confusion and also because I'm pretty sure that Instagram doesn't allow you to do rich text formatting in the caption or comment section.

Also, Lila was able to steal the fox miraculous and trick Adrien with the power from that, but Marinette is only realizing that it's gone now because she's obsessed over what's happened.


	6. Chapter 5

"Kitty, I need your help." Marinette said, poking her head into Adrien's bedroom.

"With what, a zipper? Corset?"

"No, silly. I want you to tell me which dress would be better." She laid four of them on the bed.

"You always look beautiful. There's nothing in the world that can take that away."

She smiled. "Thanks...but which dress? You were once a model..."

"True. Each dress is nice, but each can serve a different purpose. Let's see...the pink one gives off a pretty formal vibe. The pink one with white polka dots gives off a fun summer party vibe. The red one gives off a formal vibe as well, it's better for a date. And the other one...formal."

Marinette whined. "That wasn't the vibe I wanted."

"Well, I actually have a surprise for you." He went to his closet and pulled out a pair of high waist black leggings, a sleeveless, thin red button down turtle neck shirt, and a velvet red jacket.

"Where did you get this?" She asked him softly. "It's...amazing."

"I ordered it."

"Really?"

"Alright, fine. It was my father's. But the jacket isn't."

She frowned a little bit.

Gabriel...

After what he'd done to Adrien, he wasn't at all a big topic.

"It's the thought that counts. Thank you...how old is this?"

"Er...let's just pretend that it wasn't what my mother used to announce my existence..."

"Oh, so it's fairly old."

"I tried."

"And you did amazing." She told him, kissing his cheek. "I hope it isn't too tight."

"You got a bunch of maternity clothes for Christmas this year if it doesn't work."

"I refuse to wear those to a party. Chloe's, at that. I have to moderate them. The baby is making me look fat and clothes only make it worse."

"Stop it, love, don't talk about yourself in that way. Every body type is beautiful. Whether that's small, big, or...pregnant. It's just nature. And the best thing is that with pregnancy you feel horrible but in the end it's all worth it."

Marinette smiled a little and nodded. She pulled Adrien into a deep kiss.

"We're gonna be late, aren't we?" He asked with a little grin.

Marinette giggled. "I'm sorry, blame your child for screwing around with my hormones."

-  
"Adrikins! You're thirty minutes late!" Chloe screeched.

Marinette groaned. "Has her voice always been like this?"

Adrien chortled. "Stop it."

"Where were you, traffic?" She asked.

"I, uh...something like that."

"Hmph...there's punch at the table and hors d'oeuvre. Come get some!"

"Wait, hold up..." Marinette said. "Are you trying to get him drunk?"

"What does it matter to you? He isn't the one pregnant. He can drink, he doesn't need to worry."

"I...do actually. My last meeting with alcohol wasn't nice at all."

"I'm not like that other rat, Adrikins, I'm not gonna date rape you."

Adrien looked back at Marinette.

Her eyes were glassy.

She pulled out a communication capsule and gave it to him.

He smiled and put it in.

"Don't you dare try anything." Marinette growled at Chloe. She folded Adrien's collar down, revealing the hickey she'd made. It was still around.

"Hey, when did that get there?!" Adrien asked.

"Oops, I gotta go, the snacks are calling me, bye!"

She darted away.

-  
_"Seriously, Marinette, when did you put that there?"_

"More or less last night."

_"Why?!"_

"Because I don't like other women closing in on what's mine. Hickey equals taken in a girl's eyes."

She caught a glimpse of Luka looking around.

"U-uh...Adrien?"

_"Yeah?"_

"Was Luka...on the guest list?"

_"Why do you ask? Is he here!?"_

"He's looking around...I thought he was coming back next week!"

_"He probably came back early. You can talk to him, y'know."_

Marinette sighed. "Fine..."

-  
"Luka? Were you looking for me?" Marinette asked.

"Marinette! I was!" Luka exclaimed.

"I thought you weren't coming back until next week."

"It was actually on the second that I'd planned to return. You see, I wanted to talk about...us."

-  
"Kagami?"

"I know I messed up, Adrien..."

* * *

"I didn't really know the full story and all. I guess I was just..."

* * *

"...shocked. Afraid..."

* * *

"I'm sorry."

* * *

"Will you maybe reconsider..."

* * *

"Getting back together with me?"

* * *

"We found other people..."

* * *

"Luka..."

* * *

"Kagami..."

* * *

"I'm sorry..."

* * *

"But..."

* * *

"...no."


	7. Chapter 6

"Princess, you know what we haven't done?" Adrien asked his girlfriend, who was in the mood to try him.

"Uh...an activity from the book that Alya gave us for Christmas?"

"No! Why are you...why are you stuck on that?!"

"I dunno, maybe 'cause I'm pregnant and there's literally a human being inside of me."

"That's irrelevant to the situation."

"I can use the baby to get out of any sitaution for the next thirteen years or so. You can do, but additional rates apply."

Adrien chuckled. "Well someone's feeling quite cheerful today."

"We find out what the baby is in a couple hours! Of course I'm cheerful! Who isn't?"

"I mean, you have your fair share of parents who dislike you because they tried to make you a girl but had no say whatsoever..."

"Oh? Back story?"

"There is none. My father wanted a son and got one I guess. Maybe if I want the baby to be a girl then it'll work."

"Hey, that's not how that works and you know it."

"One can believe."

"But it'll never be the truth." Marinette said in a sing song voice. "So was your father really set on having a son?"

"Yes, he was set on having a son."

"So did your mother eat blue and green fruits? Is that why you have such handsome green eyes?!"

"No, this isn't the Sims 3, nor is that how that works, and no, that's not why my eyes are grass green."

"Dammmit, I thought we had a lead here."

"It's no investigation." Adrien told her. "Anyways, as I was trying to say...you know what we haven't done?"

"Uh...tried to guess what the baby is?"

"No."

"A 3D ultrasound!"

"No."

"An extravagant pregnancy announcement."

"No. Nicknamed the baby!"

"Trust me, I've wanted to do that but finding a unique unisex name that I like is hard."

"No, no, not an official name then a nickname. Just a nickname. Like Baby Agreste. Or...Baby Ladynoir."

"Ladynoir?! What does my identity with your miraculous have to do with the baby?!"

"Alya said that someone butchered it and now it's a ship name."

"For the love of the kwamis, kill me!"

"Oh come on! This is like we're in a show where we've been told to break up but we didn't really. The audience doesn't know, so we're hurting them. Fun!"

"No, not fun."

"That aside, what do we nickname him? Or her?"

"Uh...kitten."

"No. That's way too much of a giveaway."

"Hey! My mom nicknamed me chaton!"

"Congrats, I guess, but kitten just seems wrong for an unborn baby."

"Larvae."

"No!"

"Caterpillar."

"Must it be bug and cat related?"

"Catbug!"

"Not Bravest Warriors!"

"Marry me, Rebecca."

"No," she giggled.

"Rebecca~!" Adrien acted.

"I'm in love with your brother. Chad."

"Chad!? I'll kill him when I find him!"

Marinette fell into a fit of laughs.

"No Ladybug and Cat Noir, no Bravest Warriors."

"Peanut!"

"The baby's past peanut."

"Ooh, fruit related names! Watermelon!"

"Not there yet. And I hope I'm not ever."

"Women have done it before. I know you can. You can walk on toothpicks."

"You're exaggerating, dork. But I'm flattered."

"Cat's honor...okay, how about this: a baby bug with a cute name."

"There's no cute names for baby bugs besides larvae."

"I give up. You're being stubborn."

"Poor little kitten." Marinette giggled. "I dunno. We can ask for suggestions."

"How about this: if it's a girl, we nickname her Baby Bug, or BB for short. If it's a boy, we nickname him kitten."

"And what if the baby doesn't wanna sit still long enough for a sonogram picture for the sonographer to figure it out?"

"Game of cat and mouse. We call it Chibi."

"Chibi?"

"Small."

"Anime...no."

"Hey, don't go hating."

"I'm not."

"So BB, Kitten, or Chibi. Shall we shake on it?"

Marinette pecked his lips. "Promise kiss."

* * *

The baby was particularly squirmy that day, as Marinette had predicted from all the kicks she was feeling.

"I told you the baby was gonna be moving a bunch." Marinette told her husband. "You owe me."

"We made no deal, thus I don't. Besides, what more do you need with the best man in the world?"

"You're plenty. Maybe a bit too much."

The doctor gave a relieved sigh.

"Your baby wasn't planning on stopping it's dance party any time soon."

Marinette giggled. Looks like their baby enjoyed their previous activities as well and was still pleased from the treat.

"But it managed to calm down a little bit for me to get a clear picture of what I needed to."

"I'm betting on a girl. You, Marinette?"

"Boy."

"Of course you two oppose each other. It's not the first time with a pregnancy for me to see couples doing this. The first guess was right. You're having a girl!"

Adrien cheered. Marinette was happy anyways. She'd love her baby, whatever gender they came out as and whichever they chose to be.

She'd love her no matter what.

* * *

"Princess..." Adrien purred, coming under to his girlfriend. He scared her as she felt his hands on her shoulder.

"Adrien!" She shrieked. "Don't do that!"

"I'm not sorry."

"What do you need?" She asked.

"I have a surprise for you."

"Oh? What is it?"

"You'll see. Come on."

He took her hand, helped his seven month pregnant girlfriend off of the couch ("Kitty, I'm stuck again!" She'd said a month ago.) and led her to wall near theirs.

"Hey...wasn't there a door here?"

"You'll see. Put your hand there."

She blinked, but put it on the wall anyways. The wall receded upwards.

"Wow. Did you have this as a baby?"

"No. But with our alter egos, one of the miraculous gone, and the public knowing of our little princess-"

He kissed her stomach. She smiled and kissed Adrien's head.

"As I was saying, with the public knowing of our little princess, plus everything I said before, there's no such thing as overprotective. So the door's only gonna open to the handprints I send to the scanner."

"What if someone breaks in and kidnaps her?"

"It'd be unlikely. The window would need a lot of force to be opened."

"I need an example."

"Black storm force."

"Oh...so is this why you always send me shopping?"

"Ever since I found out that we were having a girl, yes. You ready?"

She nodded.

Within the blink of an eye, she was in a beautiful, light room.

There was a two corners filled with empty shelves waiting to be filled with little trinkets, a small but large dresser that also multipurposed as a changing table, a large walk in closet, a big window, a white, soft rocking chair, and an ottoman.

Marinette's eyes watered. ,

"Adrien...it's beautiful." She rasped.

"It's a start. We can get all the stuff to fill these shelves and closet soon while we wait for her."

"You know what else we can do while we wait for her?"

"Enjoy being a pair?"

"No."

"Okay then, what?"

"Make a list of names!"

"Oh no..."

"Oh, yes!"

* * *

A month later, Adrien stared at the list of names that Marinette had made.

There were variations of Avril, Esme, Estelle, Emeraude, Laverna, Mai, Mirabelle, Orielle, Orlina, Orva, and Raissa on the list.

"It's so hard to choose because they all have great meanings!" She cried.

"They're beautiful names." Adrien told her.

"I want something unique. Something that's spelled differently. Something with a sensical meaning."

"Well, my favorites; Esme, Estelle, Emeraude, Mai, and Mirabelle."

"Beloved star emerald, may beauty."

"Or we can use Esme Laverna."

Then it clicked.

She grabbed a piece of paper, grinned, and showed him.

He smiled.

"It's very unique. I love it, princess. Is it the one?"

She nodded. "This is the one."

* * *

Fun Fact: Some of the names Adrien and Marinette came up with were used in the very first draft of Love Chain.

Also, black storm is a power that Chat Noir was going to have in concept as far as I know from the wiki, but I guess it got scrapped with the PV Miraculous show.


	8. Chapter 7: Final

~one month later~  
Marinette groaned as she threw back the light blankets and sat up.

She couldn't sleep.

Her back was killing her. Not even her pregnancy pillow was helping.

It was warm. So sleeping in the same bed as your boyfriend, even under light blankets, felt just fantastic.

Adrien, meanwhile, was sound asleep next to her. What he was dreaming about, she didn't know, but it must have been nice if he was making noise and saying his girlfriend's name, along with their baby's.

She grabbed her cell phone and opened the live forum.

Why couldn't she sleep tonight?!

-  
Adrien woke up to an empty bed.

He searched for a little bit and found his girlfriend sitting in the nursery, on the floor.

"Silly girl...why are you down there?" He asked.

It was an effort to answer him.

"I didn't rest well at all. Something told me to come in here and make sure it was clean."

"Princess, we've done nothing in here yet besides stock it with some stuffed animals, diapers, and clothing. Dust isn't gonna hurt her, I promise. Besides, we still have three weeks at least before she might arrive."

"It's possible to deliver earlier, y'know."

"Of course I do. I came out on time, but you decided to come on out early and surprise your parents."

"Yep. Might explain the small frame I have...once had."

"Hey! You have a beautiful frame no matter what. Don't start body shaming yourself."

Marinette shrugged.

"Do you think you're in labor?" He asked as he noticed her clench the carpet.

"M-mmhmm."

"Okay."

_"There's no need to freak out or rush when she's in labor. It might be a while before the baby is even crowning. Just make sure that you call a doctor, let them know what's going on, and keep her as comfortable as you can while you get ready to go to the hospital."_

"Alright. Where in the apartment do you wanna be? Bedroom, bathroom, here, kitchen, living room...?"

"The living room. The box fan is out there."

"Can you walk?"

Marinette nodded. He helped her to her feet.

They slowly made their way to the living room. Adrien put the fan close to her and gave her some light snacks as well as a towel underneath her.

"What's that for?" She asked. ,

"Your water. It can break any minute now."

"I don't think there's that much to need a towel."

"You don't ever know."

"I guess not. Thanks, minou."

He nodded. "Call me if you need me."

-  
It took Marinette all her strength to get up on her own, then rush to the bathroom.

She slammed open the door, then shut it.

-  
Adrien smiled a little as he watched his girlfriend rush into the bathroom.

With their little baby girl coming very soon, he'd be glad for the bathroom trips to be over. She was always in and out - or in and never out.

He went back to his work before hearing a shriek.

It was Marinette's.

Did she fall?!

He bust in to see her half naked (nothing he hadn't seen before) and against the counter. She backed into it even further when she saw him.

"I won't look if you don't want me to," he said, meeting her eyes. "What's the matter?"

She gestured to the puddle between her legs.

"Your water broke and you shrieked from that? You aren't dying."

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"You okay?"

Marinette gestured once again, but to her underwear.

No wonder she'd screamed.

There was blood.

-  
You and your baby are plenty alright." Said the doctor to Marinette. "Bloody show is normal in labor. It's a bloody situation."

Adrien shivered.

He hated blood.

Which is why, several hours later, Adrien was by Marinette's side, quiet.

"I'm so mad at myself." He muttered.

"About what, minou?" She asked him.

"You know. The fact that I'm not gonna be around for my daughter's childbirth."

"Adrien...I'm telling you, love. I'm not mad at you. Women have done this on their own tons of times. We're always a team. The fact that you won't be in the room with me isn't a big deal. But the fact that you've..."

She paused as a contraction wove through.

"The fact that you've stayed with me through all of this, that you're still here, after I managed to ruin two relationships...that means the entire world to me."

Adrien smiled. He shut his glassy eyes and kissed her.

A couple minutes later, the doctor came in again.

"You're fully dilated. You can push when you're ready, Marinette."

"I wanna wait for my-"

"Maman? She's already here." Sabine said, rushing to her daughter's side.

"Adrien, do you want me to record?" Alya asked him.

"Alya," Marinette whined.

"C'mon. You documented your whole pregnancy. It's gonna be a treasure to your family. This is the perfect way to revisit the moment."

"I don't see why not, then."

"Great! Let's go, baby!"

Adrien smiled at Marinette, then walked away.

-  
He was sitting down, looking towards the door, waiting for it to open with a nurse who came out of it.

An hour later, and he still heard his lady screaming and sobbing for the pain to stop, that she just wanted her baby.

"Are you okay, dude? You look like you're gonna spill from the mouth."

"I'm just...listening to her cries. I wish there was a way to stop it."

"You guys already argued about a home birth. Letting her do it without an epidural is...I dunno, maybe training for when you guys get a larger house."

Probably soon. As soon as Marinette was ready, she was getting an IUD. She and Adrien were way to wild and fast, even conscious, to consider the consequences of what they did in their passion.

"Marinette didn't take this long, but every woman is different. She's never given birth before. She's not accustomed to it. Once the head is out it's pretty easy."

Adrien laughed a little bit.

"Then maybe she has a big head."

"Not at all." Adrien heard Sabine's voice. "Seven pounds, two ounces. 17 inches long."

His head jerked up.

"She's here?"

Sabine nodded.

"How's Marinette?"

"She's exhausted. She's having trouble staying awake. She wants you back in there now."

Adrien smiled and went back to Marinette.

"My lady..." He said softly. Her eyes cracked open. She smiled weakly when she saw him.

"You did amazing. Our...she's here."

"I know." She muttered. "I'm trying to stay up to hold her."

Adrien smiled. "I can lay her on your chest and you can doze off. I won't let her fall off of you."

Marinette smiled. "Thanks."

-  
She gazed down at her baby girl.

Esmai Lavernabelle Estelle Agreste was sound asleep, a soft snore from her breathing lulling Marinette deeper into sleep.

Adrien smiled and took a picture of them.

"That's how you form a strong bond." Sabine told him. "Esmai is going to be a momma's girl, but with how you treat girls, she'll be a daddy's girl as well. That's the perfect formula for a family."

Adrien smiled. That he had now. It was a true blessing.

The past nine months were a mix of heaven and hell for both of them. It would forever be etched into their minds, especially with their first little token of remembrance that'd be with them for the next eighteen years at the very least, Adrien decided as he gazed at his newborn daughter sleeping on her mother's chest.

Despite everything that had happened, they could live with the comfort and laugh about how badly Lila's plan _backfired._

~fin~

* * *

Their baby's name has a meaning.

Esme: beloved

Mai: May (French for May)

Estelle: Star

Laverna: From Laverne, which means born in the spring (also means Goddess of thieves and imposters from Roman mythology, but from Latin and the earlier Laverne)

Belle: beauty

So putting her three names (no, Lavernabelle and Estelle aren't middle names. If there's another name after your first [for example, Adrien *insert three other names here* Athanase, he doesn't have 4 middle names, he has 5 names...Adrien may not even be his first of five names] in France, it's most likely a second name) together, it means Beloved May star born in the spring. But for short, it's Esmai.


End file.
